Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:
- That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
- We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
- On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.
By learning about Alto (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.
As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Alto. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Alto is located in Fond du Lac County.
To see how the shape of Wisconsin's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Fond du Lac County: Calumet, Dodge, Green Lake, Sheboygan, Washington & Winnebago.
Below are the counties that are near Alto. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Alto:
- Fond du Lac County (The home county of Alto)
- The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Brandon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
- Brandon is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 845 people
- Fairwater
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairwater
- Fairwater is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Ladoga
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladoga
- Ladoga is located in Fond du Lac County
- Metomen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - West Rosendale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rosendale
- West Rosendale is located in Fond du Lac County
- Rosendale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Ripon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
- Ripon is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,844 people
- Oakfield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakfield
- Oakfield is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,088 people
- Eldorado
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
- Eldorado is located in Fond du Lac County
- Woodhull
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Byron
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
- Byron is located in Fond du Lac County
- Fond du Lac
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fond du Lac
- Fond du Lac is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43,178 people
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Friesland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Cambria
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria
- Cambria is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 748 people
- Englewood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
- Englewood is located in Columbia County
- Fall River
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Fall River is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,757 people
- Doylestown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doylestown
- Doylestown is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Columbus
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Columbus is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,117 people
- Otsego
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsego
- Otsego is located in Columbia County
- Rio
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest) - Pardeeville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pardeeville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardeeville
- Pardeeville is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,053 people
- Wyocena
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyocena
- Wyocena is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 727 people
- Former names for Wyocena:
- Duck Creek
- Wiocena
- Dodge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Waupun
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Atwater
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwater
- Atwater is located in Dodge County
- Fox Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Burnett
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnett
- Burnett is located in Dodge County
- Beaver Dam
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Dam have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Dam
- Beaver Dam is located in Dodge County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,303 people
- Randolph
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Brownsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Brownsville is located in Dodge County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
- Kekoskee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast) - Minnesota Junction
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Minnesota Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnesota Junction
- Minnesota Junction is located in Dodge County
- Knowles
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
- Knowles is located in Dodge County
- Horicon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast) - Mayville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Green Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Utley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Markesan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Green Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lake
- Green Lake is located in Green Lake County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 959 people
- Kingston
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Kingston is located in Green Lake County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
- Marquette
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west) - Princeton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest) - Berlin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Marquette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Germania
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest) - Neshkoro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest) - Glen Oak
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Oak
- Glen Oak is located in Marquette County
- Montello
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Wayne
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayne
- Wayne is located in Washington County
- Allenton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenton
- Allenton is located in Washington County
- Aurora
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Aurora is located in Washington County
- Waushara County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Lohrville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest) - Redgranite
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redgranite have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redgranite
- Redgranite is located in Waushara County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,111 people
- Winnebago County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Pickett
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickett
- Pickett is located in Winnebago County
- Fisk
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisk
- Fisk is located in Winnebago County
- Fitzgerald
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fitzgerald. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzgerald
- Fitzgerald is located in Winnebago County
- Black Wolf
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Wolf have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Wolf
- Black Wolf is located in Winnebago County
- Point Comfort
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Comfort
- Point Comfort is located in Winnebago County
- Omro
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omro
- Omro is located in Winnebago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,592 people
- Stony Beach
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Beach
- Stony Beach is located in Winnebago County
- Reighmoor
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reighmoor
- Reighmoor is located in Winnebago County
- Harbor Springs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harbor Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Springs
- Harbor Springs is located in Winnebago County
- Oshkosh
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oshkosh
- Oshkosh is located in Winnebago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 66,495 people
- Winneconne
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winneconne have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winneconne
- Winneconne is located in Winnebago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,480 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Alto, see our County-by-County Page for Alto.
Cemeteries Near Alto ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alto.
This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.
If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Alto covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Alton Reformed Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alton Reformed Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alton Reformed Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Oak Mound Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Mound Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Mound Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Calvary Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Calvary Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Brandon Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brandon Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brandon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- West Alto Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Alto Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Alto Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Forest Mound Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Mound Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Mound Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Union Prairie Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Prairie Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Wood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wood Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Kelley Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kelley Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kelley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Round Prairie Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Round Prairie Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Round Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- State Prison Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the State Prison Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the State Prison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Continue List (270 more) ...
- Cattaraugus Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cattaraugus Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cattaraugus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Wedge Prairie Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wedge Prairie Cemetery
- Fairwater Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairwater Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairwater Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Cattaraugus Cemetery
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Alto had a population of 63 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
- Brandon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
- Brandon is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 845 people
- Fairwater
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairwater
- Fairwater is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Ladoga
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladoga
- Ladoga is located in Fond du Lac County
- Utley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Atwater
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwater
- Atwater is located in Dodge County
- Fox Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Oak Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Center
- Oak Center is located in Fond du Lac County
- Markesan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Rosendale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - West Rosendale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rosendale
- West Rosendale is located in Fond du Lac County
- Ripon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
- Ripon is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,844 people
- Fox Lake Junction
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox Lake Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Lake Junction
- Fox Lake Junction is located in Dodge County
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Burnett
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnett
- Burnett is located in Dodge County
- Oakfield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakfield
- Oakfield is located in Fond du Lac County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,088 people
- LeRoy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Burnett
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Alto. See our List of 1890's Communities around Alto.
Newspapers Published in Alto ...
An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.
Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alto.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alto, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alto.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Alto:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the //www.wisconsinhistory.org/
- Pages specific to Fond du Lac County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Dodge County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Green Lake County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Marquette County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Washington County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Waushara County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Winnebago County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Columbia County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Fond du Lac County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Fond du Lac County
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alto. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Fond du Lac County: www.co.fond-du-lac.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.6767, Longitude: -88.7951 In this case, the coordinates for Alto have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |